"First they built big houses, and now they are moving to the first floor," observes Jim Hall-Yurasits, owner of Clean Cut Construction of Upper Saucon Township about an aging population.

Increasingly common are projects such as the addition Hall-Yurasits just finished for a couple who live in a large Cape Cod-style home in Bethlehem: an addition with a master bedroom and master bath on the first floor.

"Their bedroom is currently on the second floor, but they are planning to stay in the home, and they are looking toward the future, when they will be moving downstairs from the upstairs," says the contractor, who also moved the laundry room up from the basement.

Even churches have to accommodate the aging population. The restrooms of Fritz Memorial Methodist Church in Bethlehem were in the basement. "During the service, it was really inconvenient for the elderly to get down there. I've added an additional bathroom on the first floor," says Hall-Yurasits.

And more and more new homes are designed with an eventual decrease in mobility in mind.

"The two-story home is entrenched in the Lehigh Valley, but we are starting to see trends a little more prevalent than before, like a first-floor master bedroom suite. With the master bedroom on the first floor, it saves steps," says Hamilton.

"People in their 40s already are talking about first-floor master bedrooms," says Curtis E. Schneck, a Schnecksville builder. "They are looking further ahead than they used to.

"We do more and more single-level homes," he adds. "We do quite a few ranchers for people of all ages, but anybody from their mid-40s on up will want ranchers," he says.

Of the 15 or so new houses Schneck says his company builds each year, perhaps one-third are ranch style, and one-third, even though they may be two-story houses or Cape Cods, will have master bedrooms on the first floor. "No steps," says Schneck.

"We also try to eliminate any steps leading to the garage or to the porch," he says. "This works out really well for people when they get older."

Other specifications for aging occupants include wider doorways -- 36 inches instead of 30 or 32 inches. "Three-foot doorways are more accessible, in case anybody needs a wheelchair," says Schneck.

Accessibility is a familiar issue at Morris Black Design Studios in Hanover Township.

"About 5 to 10 percent of our customers are now coming to us and saying, "We're getting older,"' says Dan Lenner, a certified kitchen and bath designer with Morris Black for 16 years.

The Morris Black kitchen showroom features lower, or longer, wall cabinets fitted with easy-to-grasp hardware; wheelchair-accessible kitchen islands with multiple counter heights and open shelves, and sinks and cook tops with openings underneath to accommodate a chair or wheelchair.

"It doesn't have to add extra cost," says Lenner.

Whether people are downsizing from a large single home and going into condominiums or staying in place, "They are looking to make their lives easier," he says.

Adding an elevator to an existing home is becoming more common, too.

"You hear a little more about people putting elevators in, both in new construction and remodeling jobs, than you did 10 years ago," says Chet DeRemouldo, owner of Quality Custom Carpentry, Salisbury Township.

He's putting an elevator into a residence in Saucon Valley to keep a woman in her home. "The elevator itself is like a car, with all kinds of options and features. We are working in cooperation with the elevator company to build walls to house it. The cost can vary greatly, but it can be done for less than $50,000," he says. "And it would be even less expensive if you were building a new home and could build around it."

Sometimes homeowners are remodeling to accommodate an aging parent.

When Richard and Helen Klinger of Catasauqua recently renovated an existing bathroom in their ranch home to accommodate Helen Klinger's 93-year-old mother, "We did not want to have a "handicapped' bathroom," says Richard Klinger. "So we sat down with the builder and the designer and came up with a pretty good compromise. Our own term for it was elderly friendly."

S&D Renovations of Emmaus took the 45-year-old bathroom all the way down to the floor joists and wall studs, then rebuilt, adding sound-proof insulation.